By Lara Foster
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
-Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
A Personal Manifesto is an engagement in writing and a telling of the story of your life. It is an act of authoring in present time. It can change the aspects and meaning of past, present and future. When new actions or reasons arise, the definitions of what you thought was, and what you thought could be, morph into new realities.
On his YouTube Channel Shots of Awe, Philosopher Jason Silva describes The Power of a Story as “tool and technique for transformation.”
Think of a Personal Manifesto like your own personal story train moving along the tracks of life. The seats of the train hold your intentions. The engine room holds your heart/soul/beliefs. The outside of the train is plastered with goals, affirmations, and overall life plans, habits or thoughts.
The train tracks that you’re on could be called destiny. But it’s your continually unfolding understanding of the path in your own life that will alter where those tracks go and how they move.
Manifesto: A manifesto is a published verbal declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government.
So let’s talk about destiny, because a manifesto is the vehicle of how you’ll be operating with destiny and living your life…
I’ve had moments in my life where I saw different paths laid out before me. People or images would inspire a story of, this could be your life in 20 years, and then I’d be asked, would you be happy with that? Generally most of the time it was an emphatic NO. And so I’d thank the vision for showing me what things could be and then Change Shit UP!!! Because I wouldn’t want to keep travelling That path anymore.
The decision to take new action was the first step. But it was the follow through, the continual focus on these new actions that kept propelling me forward instead of becoming complacent again and sliding backwards into old habits of living.
“Destiny is a feeling, not a destination.”
A Personal Manifesto helps one to engage their present focus towards where they want to go and who they want to become much in the same manner that a Bucket List can.
A personal manifesto is the ULTIMATE feedback loop.
Feedback Loop: The section of a control system that allows for feedback and self-correction and that adjusts its operation according to differences between the actual and the desired or optimal output.
Your Life is the measurement for this feedback loop and your happiness/fulfillment is the data that helps you change things.
In this short clip Jason Silva describes how to create impressions for a positive feedback loop.
Three Vital Impressions:
- The Idea’s, the moment you think of it or it comes to you
- Write it Down, Record it, Transcribe it
- Reflect on or Review what you wrote down later in the day
“After that third impression you’ve literally primed your brain with an archetype for that that it will then unconsciously be on the look out for,” says Silva on an episode of The London Real.
Towards the 44:50 mark to 50:00 of this London Real episode the conversation goes on to elaborate, “We CAN manifest our destiny.”
“Our minds are like parachutes. They only operate when they’re open.”
Silva continues, “Quantum Physics says that the observer is required for reality to exist. And Joseph Campbell says ‘God is that which exceeds all our intellectual capacity.’ So it’s not this bearded guy, but it’s just this great metaphor for that which we don’t yet understand…
“But what if we are able to understand it. What if we are able to say, oh syncronicity is just a glimpse, a brief moment of awareness of the subconscious proceses of psycho cybernetics. Of you creating these impressions for yourself that will guide as orienting sign posts through your life that will be telling you where your path is. And that ultimately The Hero’s Journey is like Quest Physics.”
As Jason Silva quotes off the cuff about the wonderful Elizabeth Gilbert and directly relaying from the book Eat Pray Love,
“The rule of Quest Physics goes something like this: If you’re brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting, which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments, and set out on a truth-seeking journey, either externally or internally, and if you are truly willing to regard everything that happens to you on that journey as a clue and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself, then the truth will not be withheld from you.”
Your ideas, your writing, your story, your Personal Manifesto engages the creativity of The Hero’s Journey. Your life becomes an interplay with destiny, a co-creation of Quest Physics, and everything you do is fueled with purpose and intention for the greater good.
A Personal Manifesto engages the creativity of Quest Physics in your everyday life. Turning and facing the truth of your personal life path brings on a whole new set of circumstances and awareness of realities. Listening to the teachers, discerning the lessons, and applying action… Surely more times than not, you’ll enjoy the results!
The brilliant writer James Altucher says, “Living by your personal manifesto lets you touch people. Let’s you celebrate living. Turns you into someone worth touching.”
Cool Links:
How to Write a Personal Manifesto in 5 Steps
How to Write a Personal Manifesto
eHow – How to Write a Personal Manifesto
Sources:
Altucher, James. “The Ultimate Guide to Making a Personal Manifesto.” (article) [Blog Post] Retrieved from http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2015/02/the-ultimate-guide-to-making-a-personal-manifesto/
Coelho, Paulo. (1993) The Alchemist. New York, NY. Harper Collins.
FreeDictionary.com. Feedback Loop Definition. Current as of 12/22/2015. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/feedback+loop
Gilbert, Elizabeth. (2006) Eat Pray Love. New York, NY. Penguin Books.
London Real (Producer) (2013, June 16) Jason Silva – Shots of Awe | London Real. YouTube: https://youtu.be/DV1g4BC_cSM
Maltz, Maxwell. (1960) Psycho-Cybernetics. New York, NY: Pocket Books.
Silva, Jason. Shots of Awe. “How We Prime Our Brains to Achieve More.” You Tube: https://youtu.be/LZshegzVADM
Silva, Jason. Shots of Awe. “The Power of a Story.” You Tube: https://youtu.be/lHZ72NkBueU
Wikipedia.org. Manifesto Definition. Current as of 12/22/2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifesto
Excellent!
A great reminder that the universe conspires FOR us.
And an empowering read for the person who wonders what comes next…
You know it Sarah Jayne! Live it. Love it. Be it. Thanks for all the inspiration. 😉
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